Talk:Simone Giertz

Is she still the Queen of Shitty Robots?

Perhaps it's time to revise this entry? In the past couple of years she has transitioned from creating bad robots to making actual useful things. This change was partially inspired by her brain tumor and was punctuated by the viral video of the truckla project. An article in Wired magazine (behind a pay wall) says she has "Renounced her crown." Vernhart (talk) 18:38, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

Is the description "inventor" appropriate?

Not to take anything away from Ms. Giertz's obvious intelligence and creativity, but I don't think making one-off robotic gag devices can properly be called "inventing". The purpose behind her creations is to entertain and perhaps educate, but they do not seem in any way to be intended or conceived as legitimate practical solutions. Nor, actually, has she invented anything strictly speaking; she's primarily putting novel attachments on a pre-existing robotic device and using them in humorous ways.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper but I think it's important not to dilute the term "inventor" (or any others) in this way as it detracts from those who have earned that description legitimately. --Threephi (talk) 17:52, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

The wording is not mine, it is from the original interview in The Guardian. If several well-established sources describe her as such, I don't see any problem. But as you say, her job description feels a bit vague at the moment and her biography is sketchy at best.--Hovastro (talk) 18:06, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Our sources repeatedly refer to her as an "inventor." Dictionaries define "inventor" as "a person who invented a particular process or device or who invents things as an occupation," and she certainly meets both those criteria. I am removing the "citation needed" tag recently added by SPA whose only edits so far are to this BLP and Naomi Wu's. HouseOfChange (talk) 17:40, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. You can locate your hook here. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by JuniperChill (talk) 18:37, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

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• Article history

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Simone Giertz

• ... that the "Queen of Shitty Robots" (pictured) locked herself in a bathroom because she wanted to go to space?

• Source:

• • ALT1: ... that the "Queen of Shitty Robots" (pictured) built a "Pussy Grabs Back Machine"? Source:
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/2023 Serbian parliamentary election campaign

Improved to Good Article status by Vigilantcosmicpenguin (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 63 past nominations.

— Vigilant Cosmic Penguin 🐧 (talk | contribs) 02:41, 29 January 2026 (UTC).

• QPQ is done, page is long enough and was promoted recently enough. WP:EARWIG detects a 42.9% chance of copyvio but that appears to just be direct quotes so it's fine. Sourcing looks good. Both hooks are interesting but I think ALT1 is funnier. Approved. ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 04:48, 29 January 2026 (UTC)
  • @ArtemisiaGentileschiFan: Looks like you forgot to review the image to run with the hook. I want to use the image, especially since the photo was taken by a Wikipedian for the article. (I agree that ALT1 is funnier and we should go with that one.) — Vigilant Cosmic Penguin 🐧 (talk | contribs) 22:24, 29 January 2026 (UTC)
    • Right, thanks for the reminder. The photo is uploaded on Commons under a free license and is the work of a Wikipedian, so there's no copyright issue there. The image is approved to run. ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 22:34, 29 January 2026 (UTC)